Page 25: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (December 1991)

RFP will be issued and the nine yards will be asked to bid on the baseline ship construction contract.

Meanwhile, the Navy is prepar- ing a report to Congress which will delineate long term mobility require- ments. The plan will identify ac- tions to be taken to meet these re- quirements.

Longer Term Plans

For Advanced Sealift Design

In addition to the near term pro- gram, the Navy has begun a design effort to develop an advanced sealift ship. The design work has been divided into mid- and long-term ship concepts.

Notional characteristics have been developed for the mid-term ship. They are based on a displace- ment monohull of approximately 1,000 feet in length. Original plans called for operating speeds of 29 to 33 knots—though speeds in the 25- knot range are now being consid- ered.

More recently, the Maritime Ad- ministration has developed a mid- term sealift ship design which in- corporates features suitable for com- mercial operation. The ship would essentially be configured to operate as a straight container carrier—but have the capability to be rapidly converted for RO/RO use. Slow speed diesel propulsion has been fitted in the design.

The Navy is also examining more radical options which incorporate a wide range of novel concepts for a long term sealift ship design. They include new semi-planing monohulls and surface effect ships able to oper- ate at speeds from 40 to 50+ knots.

New forms of propulsion, cargo han- dling systems, manning improve- ments, etc. are to be addressed.

Power requirements are an astro- nomical 400,000 bhp—to deliver 5,000 or fewer tons of cargo.

Expected Sealift

Ship Orders

IMA expects construction con- tracts to be awarded next spring. It is likely that the Navy will award two contracts—a contract for one ship, a second contract for two ships.

Both contracts will have option pro- visions for three or four ships. Exer- cise of these options will likely re- sult in at least 10 sealift ships being ordered over the next five years. $50 Billion For

Other Navy Programs

Excluding sealift ship construc- tion, the Navy plans to spend almost $50 billion on ship construction alone over the next six years. Future or- ders are to include an additional aircraft carrier, seven Seawolf sub- marines, 22 Aegis destroyers and four amphibious warfare ships.

However, budget pressures and changing military requirements are likely to impact full execution of this plan.

December, 1991

The Navy has been exploring new ship designs which would be cheaper to build and operate. Included among these is a proposed follow- on, simpler design attack subma- rine—currently named Centurion.

This submarine is to be consider- ably smaller than the Seawolf—and less expensive to build. The Navy is also looking at a low cost variant to the Aegis destroyer. In a recent industry meeting, a Navy official described 10 possible destroyer vari- ants based on the DDG-51 hull and power plant. Each of these variants is less complex and would be less costly to build. $33.2 Million

Appropriated

For NOAA Ships

The House/Senate conferees on the FY1992 Commerce, State, Jus- tice Appropriations bill approved $33.2 million for expenses neces- sary for the construction, acquisi- tion, leasing, or conversion of ves- sels, including related equipment, for the National Oceanic and Atmo- spheric Administration. The money, which is to remain available until expended, was an add-on to the ap- propriations bill. No funds had been requested by the Administration.

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